Ezekiel 7:18-27

18 ¹They put on sackcloth, and ²horror covers them. Shame is on all faces, and ³baldness on all their heads.

19 They cast their silver into the streets, and their gold is like an unclean thing. ⁴Their silver and gold are not able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord. They cannot satisfy their hunger or fill their stomachs with it. ⁵For it was ⁶the stumbling block of their iniquity.

20 ⁷His beautiful ornament they used for pride, and ⁸they made their abominable images and their detestable things of it. Therefore ⁹I make it an unclean thing to them.

21 And I will give it into the hands of ¹⁰foreigners for prey, ¹¹and to the wicked of the earth for spoil, and ¹²they shall profane it.

22 I will turn my face from them, and ¹³they shall profane my treasured^[a] place. Robbers shall enter ¹⁴and profane it.

23 ¹⁵“Forge a chain! ^{[b] 16}For the land is full of bloody crimes ¹⁷and the city is full of violence.

24 I will bring ¹⁸the worst of the nations to take possession of their houses. ¹⁹I will put an end to the pride of the strong, ²⁰and their holy places^[c] shall be profaned.

25 ²¹When anguish comes, ²²they will seek peace, but there shall be none.

26 ²³Disaster comes upon disaster; ²⁴rumor follows rumor. ²⁵They seek a vision from the prophet, while ²⁶the law^[d] perishes from the priest and ²⁷counsel from the elders.

27 The king mourns, the prince is wrapped in despair, and the hands of the people of the land are paralyzed by terror. According to their way ²⁸I will do to them, and according to their judgments I will judge them, ²⁹and they shall know that I am the Lord. ”

Ezekiel 7:18-27 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 7

This chapter contains a prophecy of the speedy destruction of the Jews, as being just at hand; of the particular judgments that should come upon them; of the horror that should seize them, and the distress that all ranks of men among them should be in, a few only escaping, who are described as in mournful circumstances. The destruction in general is denounced as being very near; the end being come, which is often repeated; and as it is represented as sudden, so without mercy; which is declared, Eze 7:1-14; the particular judgments, sword, pestilence, and famine, are mentioned in Eze 7:15, and the few that should escape are compared to mourning doves, Eze 7:16; the trembling, horror, and shame that should be upon all, are intimated in Eze 7:17,18; the unprofitableness of their gold and silver to deliver them, and the unsatisfying nature of these things, are expressed, Eze 7:19; the profanation and destruction of their temple are prophesied of, Eze 7:20-22; and for their murder, rapine, and oppression, it is threatened that their houses should be possessed by the worst of Heathens, and their holy places defiled; and one calamity should come upon another; when their application to prophets, priests, and ancient men for counsel, would be in, vain, Eze 7:23-26; and king, prince, and people, should be in the most melancholy and distressed circumstances, Eze 7:27.

Cross References

• 1. 7:18 Isa. 15:2, 3; Lam. 2:10
• 2. 7:18 Ps. 55:5
• 3. 7:18 See Isa. 3:24
• 4. 7:19 Prov. 11:4; Zeph. 1:18
• 5. 7:19 [1 Tim. 6:10]
• 6. 7:19 ch. 14:3, 4, 7; 44:12
• 7. 7:20 [Isa. 64:11]
• 8. 7:20 [ch. 16:17]; See ch. 8:5-16
• 9. 7:20 [ch. 9:7; 24:21; 25:3]
• 10. 7:21 See ch. 28:7
• 11. 7:21 [ver. 24; ch. 23:46]
• 12. 7:21 [See ver. 20 above]
• 13. 7:22 [See ver. 20 above]
• 14. 7:22 [See ver. 20 above]
• 15. 7:23 [Jer. 27:2]
• 16. 7:23 ch. 8:17; 9:9; 11:6; 22:3, 4; Jer. 6:7
• 17. 7:23 [ver. 11]
• 18. 7:24 [ver. 21; Hab. 1:6, 13]
• 19. 7:24 [ver. 11]
• 20. 7:24 See ver. 20
• 21. 7:25 [ver. 2]
• 22. 7:25 [Jer. 6:14; 8:15; 1 Thess. 5:3]
• 23. 7:26 [Jer. 4:20]
• 24. 7:26 See Job 1:16-19
• 25. 7:26 [ch. 20:1, 3; Ps. 74:9]
• 26. 7:26 [Mal. 2:7]
• 27. 7:26 [1 Kgs. 12:6]
• 28. 7:27 [ver. 4]
• 29. 7:27 See ch. 6:7

Footnotes

• [a] 7:22 Or 'secret'
• [b] 7:23 Probably refers to an instrument of captivity
• [c] 7:24 By revocalization (compare Septuagint); Hebrew 'and those who sanctify them'
• [d] 7:26 Or 'instruction'